The NMU Wildcats football team remains winless after their bye week. The team was unable to get the win against GLIAC rival Saginaw Valley State; the final score of the game was 47-25. NMU and Saginaw Valley are both unranked.
The Wildcats trailed all four quarters, including scoring just a field goal the entire first half. Making the score at halftime 33-3, with Saginaw Valley leading.
Coming out of halftime down 30, the team let some of the young Wildcats earn some experience with game time reps. The Cats were slowly able to dig out of the hole by scoring a touchdown early in the third quarter. However, every time they made progress, the Cardinals would answer right back with a score.
“We want to play through some of the difficulty and make sure that they understand we still have a goal of taking the ball down to score,” Head Coach Shane Richardson said. “Let’s try to continue to play the game every rep until the clock hits zeros. That’s really what we want to do.”
The fourth quarter is where things started to turn for the Wildcats. They seemed to get a rhythm down and were able to score two touchdowns. The first one of the two was completed with a successful two-point conversion.
Freshman quarterback Trevor Theuerkauf threw for 52 yards, one touchdown, and threw one interception in the game, including a 27-yard pass to freshman wide receiver Sebastian Boyea.
“Trevor, he’s got a moxy to him that really not a lot of other people have on our team. I think he has the chance to get better as a quarterback because of that… I think Trevor has a very aggressive and competitive mentality…he’s going to find a way to try to get the job done no matter what it requires. And I mean, he’s going to just go and attack it. And, you know, I think for Trevor to be out there, we really have a lot of confidence in him. And I really believe in the kid. I mean, he is exactly what you want. And I think he’s got an opportunity here moving forward to where he’s going to really blossom,” coach Richardson said.
Running back Jahi Wood ended the game with 80 yards of rushing and one touchdown. Wood picked up one catch for six receiving yards as well.
Running back Noah Dobert put on a show on the ground, moving the ball 107 yards, including a rushing touchdown. Dobert also helped out on special teams, giving the Cats good field advantage by taking the ball out 27 yards on a return.
Senior kicker and punter Michael Karlen was able to convert a messed-up extra point try into a two-point conversion by rushing the ball into the end-zone, as well as make a 44-yard field goal attempt.
This week, the Wildcats host the GLIAC rival, Grand Valley State. This weekend will also celebrate the 50th anniversary of the NMU Wildcats’ 1975 championship-winning team. The game will kick off on Saturday at 7:00 pm.
